Former Minister of Education and a former Vice President of the World Bank, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili has dismissed insinuations that she is an ‘overnight activists’ because of her frontline role in the #BringBackOurGirls movement, a campaign urging the federal government to rescue the over 200 school girls abducted exactly 50 days ago by members of Boko Haram in Chibok, Borno State.
She also denied a political motive for her involvement, ruled out any future political role for herself, and disclosed that she had indeed turned down offers of appointment from the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.
“I have always been somebody driven by conviction,” she said in an interview in Metropole magazine’s special edition on the Abuja campaign for the rescue of the abducted girls. “Being told all kind of things by naysayers on account of standing up for these girls doesn’t matter because there is no cost that is too much for these girls.”
She insisted that her role in the campaign aligns with the deeply held values that have defined her private and public engagements over time. “It’s a renewal of my values,” she added. “I believe in the value of human life; I believe in empathy and the sanctity of the social contract; I believe in accountability and good governance; and I believe in an inclusive society. There is no way I would not have done this”
While commending Abuja residents and others for the sacrificing to be part of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, she said the core of the campaign is about citizens demanding that government must play its constitutional role. “Our single issue is about bringing back our girls,” she said. “But that single issue is enveloped in the role of government and the accountability that government has for the live and the property of each citizen.”
Elaborating further, she said: “the [abducted] girls are not just the children of their fathers; they are daughters of Nigeria. And I am a daughter of Nigeria, and a mother that could be the mother of these girls. When people say ‘why do you take it so personal?’ it is because I could be any of these girls. These are children of the poor. My dad was a poor public servant. I could have been any of them. So it is personal.
“After the abduction, there was no formidable search-and-rescue operation. If it happened, nobody told anybody anything. Over the number of days that followed, there were pictures of Chibok fathers and brothers going off on their own into the forest looking for their children. Why was there such institutional indifference and inertia?
“There was complete failure in the initial days of the abduction of these girls. We lost so much time. It was as if there was no response in favour of the girls. That is what upsets me about this and any attempt at pretending that this was not so is actually even more troubling. We need to accept that there was failure and walk back and say why was there that failure and indifference? Why was there that apathy and lethargy?”
She maintains that those who criticize her or express surprise about the online and on-street role she has played in the campaign do not fully know her. “What they know of me is the minister and VP World Bank,” she said. “They didn’t know the Oby that was campaigning on the streets of Lagos in the 80s and the 90s. I was beaten by the military on the streets of Lagos.
I was one of the leaders of Concerned Professionals. In those days, it was the days of kill-and-go mobile policemen. They would turn up in tankers and teargas. The people who say such things are the ones who should have taken time to study the person they are talking about.
“They should go and ask former President [Olusegun] Obasanjo. When I was in his government, he would say to me, ‘Oby you are my minister, are you going to continue to be an activist as my minister? So with you in my government who then needs a Gani Fawehinmi?’ And I would say to him ‘sir, this is the best compliment that you have given me; thank you very much because I absolutely love Gani Fawehinmi.’
“Why was he saying that? It was because I would raise those things that people wanted us not to talk about. That’s me. I will not keep quiet about the things that must be discussed. I will not negotiate my values. So while I was in government I was the internal critic of the administration.
“Why was he saying that? It was because I would raise those things that people wanted us not to talk about. That’s me. I will not keep quiet about the things that must be discussed. I will not negotiate my values. So while I was in government I was the internal critic of the administration.
It is not something that I am apologetic about. The issue of good governance has been my forte for decades. As a young professional, I was one of the co-founders of Transparency International. Doesn’t that tell you something? This is not some overnight activist.”
She said she is unmoved by those condemning her for her role in the campaign for the abducted girls. “I don’t see those that abuse me,” she stated. “And I don’t see those that praise me because there is nothing to praise me for. If I didn’t do this I will go to my grave completely disappointed in me. There is no way I would not have done this.”
Her interview was conducted before yesterday’s ban on public protests for the abducted girls by the FCT Commissioner of Police, Mr. MT Mbu.
Apart from the extensive interview with Ezekwesili, Metropole’s special edition on the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, which will be out soon, is a comprehensive package of the campaign in Abuja, featuring interviews, profiles, reports, analyses, and iconic pictures.
For breaking news out of Abuja, follow us on Twitter: @MetropoleMag
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